The Pokhara Agriculture Cold Store, which is said to be equipped with all modern facilities, has been opened under public-private partnership model. The capacity of the cold storage is 300 tons, to be extended up to 480 ton.
The cold storage has been established with an investment of Rs 60,5 million (€480,000). Provincial government invested Rs 20,5 million, while Pokhara Cold Storage, a private sector firm, invested Rs 40 million. The promoters said it is the first of its kind multipurpose cold storage in Nepal.
The cold storage targets storing fruits, vegetables and seeds. It will also be used to ripen fruits, said officials. According to co-investor Paudel, fruits including apples, orange, mango, banana, guava, litchi, grapes and pears can be ripened and kept without any chemical process in the storage.
As explained in an article on myrepublica.nagariknetwork.com, the cold storage will solve the problem of the marketing concerns of the farmers and also provide healthy fruits and vegetables to the customers, said Lekh Bahadur Thapa Magar, minister for Land Management, Agriculture and Cooperative, Gandaki Province.
